Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/new-shelter-proposal/)
Supervisors Todd Spitzer and Shawn Nelson said they are opposed to a proposal by south Orange County mayors to put a new homeless shelter on county-owned property in rural Silverado Canyon.
South Orange County mayors, under pressure from a federal judge, on Thursday chose a closed elementary school along rural Santiago Canyon Road as a site they’d like to see become a new homeless shelter.
Spitzer was “stirring up a bunch of lies and nonsense” with his comments last month to public meetings of the Laguna Niguel and Costa Mesa city councils, Supervisor Shawn Nelson said. Spitzer said his colleagues weren’t telling the whole story.
“We don’t have sufficient capacity,” said the supervisors’ chairman, Andrew Do. The issue is scheduled to be discussed Tuesday at a federal court hearing with U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, county officials, and city officials from across Orange County.
Voice of OC has begun building a map showing all of Orange County’s existing homeless shelters as well as all potential emergency housing zones.
The Costa Mesa City Council Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution against turning the Fairview Developmental Center into a homeless shelter.
Answers about where shelters might be placed, and how they would be operated, could come at an April 3 court meeting.
Among the problems he cited: Women’s beds put in men’s sleeping areas due to a lack of space, people with serious mental illnesses being triggered by extremely crowded conditions at the Courtyard shelter, and women being told by county officials their option was to stay at an already-over-capacity shelter with men who they say sexually assaulted them.
At least 250 people protested Sunday against plans for a homeless shelter at a former military base in Irvine, raising concerns about drug use and potential risks to children in nearby athletic fields and neighborhoods. Supervisor Shawn Nelson said no drug use or sex offenders would be allowed in the shelter.
All three of the proposed shelter sites could be eliminated Tuesday, but another vote on re-selecting the location for the beds is expected at a later date, after county and city officials gather on April 3 for a court-organized meeting.
